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Responsible tourism

Responsible tourism: Sicily small ship cruise, food & culture

Environment

By visiting a wide selection of vineyards, olive oil producers and a honey farm we are helping to preserve the small family run farms and producers that specialise in the prevalent non-intensive agriculture that provides the backbone of Sicily's environment and economy.

A focus of the cruise is on trying and utilising local produce, and we provide picnics made of fresh local produce as well as taking ll of our clients on a street food tour of Palermo where they will only purchase food of Sicilian origin.

By visiting ancient monuments such as the spectacular Roman Amphitheatres at Taormina and Syracuse, and the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, our entry fees help maintain and preserve these magnificent historical sites.

By using a small ship we limit our group to 60 passengers maximum. This number can easily be absorbed by some of the smaller places we visit, which would not be the case the vast floating blocks of flats known as cruise ships in some quarters.

We don't produce large glossy brochures, don't expect reams of paper when you book with us, we promote our website and use email rather than paper confirmation, vastly reducing the travel industries traditional dependence on chopping down trees to promote their products. We share our office facilities with several other companies to reduce our footprint.

Community

A strong focus of this small cruise is to sample and enjoy the local and regional produce of Sicily. During the course of one week we will visit three vineyards, two specialist bakeries, a honey farm and the food markets of Palermo where a local chef will help us try several local delicacies before we buy some ingredients from the market and teach us to cook them.

By visiting a range of smaller communities that are a bit off the usual tourist trail, and by visiting in the autumn we are providing some income to some rarely visited areas, and some income in the 'off' season to some small businesses. Our guide is Sicilian resident who knows Sicily intimately and has helped us create this unusual itinerary.

We give our passengers plenty of free time ashore and encourage them to visit local cafes and shops thus helping to support the economy of one of the poorest parts of Europe.